Chapter 43 – Wake Up
Slade conquered Griscent and woke up.
The minotaur girl loomed over the slime. “Hey you, you’re finally awake.”
The clay soldiers, the palace, and the collapsed bridge were all here. No doubt about it, he was back at Holloweye, the new Dungeon town.
Thank god, I’m free! It felt like an eternity!
He wriggled in excitement. “Hiiii~ How long did I sleep?”
She picked him up. “What the?! You can speak now? Your voice is soooo cuuuute!”
“Not as much as your ears.”
“Heh? Huuh? What’s with you? You’re being creepy all of a sudden!” She held Slade as far as she could from her face.
Brash jokes weren’t Slade’s taste, but Milia thrived on it. She liked to poke at things close to their limits.
Ah… I missed cow tits. Slade sighed in relief. He was too sensitive to cutting remarks to enjoy interacting with her, but surviving for almost a week together forged some kind of bond.
“I’m praising the cow ears. I couldn’t care less about the idiot attached to them!”
“Huh? I’m not an idiot, but an action oriented genius!”
“A genius at losing duels to slimes, too. But it’s true, the beholders would have fried us if it weren’t for your insane reflexes.”
“Wanna go at it, huh? I’ll prove my superior brain with those.” She flexed her biceps, roaring.
“Let me just get inside the golem and flick you to oblivion. By the way, where’s Violet?”
It wasn’t time for aimless banter. Stars shone through the open dome in the ceiling. It was still night. Almost everyone had finished their meal, so not an hour passed since he got into a fight with Griscent.
He needed to take care of Violet. That was one reason why he fought hard after all.
Hearing Slade’s question, Shaki approached. “Metiva and the witches are taking care of her by casting Cure on repeat. Had a good nap?”
Slade jumped. “Your skin!”
“What? What about my skin?” Shaki frantically felt her cheeks with her hand.
The slime was transfixed by her scales, tripping at their fractal motifs. He wanted to touch them, lick them, and eat them.
“Those glistening scales… So beautiful!”
The girls flinched.
“What happened to him?” Milia held her arms together, cringing.
“I don’t know. Maybe Violet’s mana cooked his brain… Wait, does he have a brain?”
Slade shook himself out of his trance. Am I opening up to my slime instincts rather than to my human soul?
“Slade’s return confirmed.”
“You’re back, master!”
Two overlapping voices pulled his attention.
Emerging from his daydream, he saw Griscent and Metiva heading towards him.
The tentacles of the Evil Eye floated in circular motions, boasting her control of telekinesis and the elegance of geometrical patterns.
Noticing his intense gaze, her iris gleamed purple as if blushing. She shrunk her motions to hide her glossy appendages behind her stiff eye.
Next to Griscent, Metiva’s loose tribal robe fluttered as she walked. The gnoll’s fluffy fur tickled Slade’s soul, beckoning him to dive into the silky hair.
“Oooooh! My beauties!” Slade jumped at Griscent.
He latched on the tentacles and wobbled around it, smothering his face against them. “Tentacles are amazing!”
Griscent froze in surprise. “Slade’s mental stability, unconfirmed.”
“Your fur too!” He jumped to Metiva’s chest and rubbed her hairy bosom.
“You can nap on my chest whenever you want.” She stroked him back.
Shaki picked a skewer from the bucket she held. “Anyway, eat your fill and don’t overwork yourself, because you’ll need to endure the trip to Krisnan.”
She handed him a skewer which stabbed through a bunch of... cockroaches. The critters frantically moved their legs, trying to escape their tragic fate as food.
“Disgusting. How can you eat that thing?” Milia reached for the bucket and took out a leafy ball that she stuffed inside her mouth. “I’ll take the lichen instead.”
Slade didn’t feel any disgust from the insects, even though he recalled that humans rarely ate those. I can remember memes from Earth, but I can’t remember what I liked to eat, huh?
“Thanks for the meal!” He wrapped the skewer and ingested the insects.
[Shapeshift: Cockroach form unlocked.]
Hmm… I like the crunchiness, but it’s not time for that!
He felt restless, worrying about Violet. After finishing his snack with haste, he jumped off Metiva’s chest towards a crowd of gnoll-witches.
Milia grabbed him. “Wait, your mana must be at max capacity. You should flush it out to me.”
“Huh? B-but we’re outside… In front of everyone too...” The slime blushed.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s for Violet’s good too. You can transfer your excess to me after you’ve filled Milia.”
“W-wait! You too?!” Slade stood flabbergasted. He didn’t remember having such a close relationship with them. True, it was for Violet’s good, but doing it in front of their entire group sounded decadent.
“That’s a good idea. I need to fill up my mana pool after casting Cure.”
“Get going. We don’t have all night.” Milia squeezed him against her belly tattoo, covered by a thin sweaty loincloth.
“N-no- wait. I can’t do that in front of everyone…” His eyes darted around. Metiva and the gnolls looked intently. Plus, he already had his fill with Griscent.
“Why are you complaining? Just shut up and do it.” Milia squeezed him harder.
“A-alright, if you’re okay doing it…”
Slade shapeshifted. A stump grew from the bottom and reached closer to Milia’s crotch.
“Hii!? What are you doing?” Milia flicked the slime away.
“Did he touch your intimate parts?”
“You told me to use Mana Transfer!” Slade said.
“That’s right! I didn’t ask you to molest me!”
“How am I supposed to give you mana, then?”
“What are you saying?! Do you need to molest me for that?”
“Of course, I do! We’ve been doing that from the time the ceiling collapsed on you. Why are you acting surprised now?”
Shaki’s face loomed above Milia’s in scrutiny.
“That’s false! We didn’t do it! I just ate your eggs and cuddled with you!”
“You’re kidding me! Shaki, we did it too, right?”
The troglodyte rook stepped back, disgusted. “Oh no, the mana vortex really melted his brain!”
“It’s okay, master. I shall receive your mana instead.”
“Hold on! Something’s wrong!”
Slade racked his brain. He recalled the error of the H.E.R.O. system mentioning corrupted memories.
“Griscent, did you mess with my memories?”
“Answer impossible. Missing data of the fight between younger Slade and real Slade.” Griscent didn’t sense what happened when his zombie self ate him. She only saw his comeback as a slime, helped by Tannhauser.
“Like I said, I don’t mind-”
“What? The beholders messed with your memories?!” Shaki pointed a skewer at Griscent in anger.
Metiva raised her hands in surrender, trying to calm the rooks and the beholders.
Were the sex with Violet, Milia and Shaki just corrupted dreams?
He called his status window. Profusely sweating, he navigated on the menu, tapping on the floating screen with his stumps.
What’s the meaning of this? Why did this lewdness slipped into my mind?
He checked the description of Mana Transfer.
[Mana transfer: Exchange mana. The rate of transfer is based on the target’s mana pool and attunement.]
It mentioned nothing about fluids.
“Dammit.”
I started uploading route B (alternate route starting from chapter35)
Chapter 36B is available in ScribbleHub.
Also, I've updated the Prologue and Chapter 1 with some text and pictures.
Shaki’s roar echoed in the cave. Her voice carried unexpected levels of fury. It surprised the gnolls who were getting used to her cold, but helpful attitude.
The troglodyte pawns rushed to answer her call, shoving aside the astounded by-standers.
Milia snatched a spear from a passing-by pawn and joined her friend. “Pin the Evil Eye down!”
Fourteen stone spears struck down Griscent’s tentacles, nailing her against the ground.
The situation grew tense. The crowd of gnolls and beholders studied Slade’s reaction, ready to carry out his orders.
But the slime froze, horrified by the judging stares of the crowd.
Without leadership, the civilians broke into a chatter. Panic broke inside the cave. Will their new boss let Griscent die? Should the beholders shoot their rays despite friendly fire? Should the gnolls fight the beholders? So many questions went unanswered.
“There is no need to be rash. Griscent will surrender quietly, right?” Metiva feared that her clan would be swept in the crossfire between beholders and troglodytes.
“We can’t allow that creature to hypnotize our people. We are doing it for the safety of your clan too.”